Conspiracy in the Underworld
by Super Hero 101
Summary: The second installment in my Pay the Price series. Dengar, Latts, Cato, Sugi and Embo are hired to bring down an evil group that is conspiring against the Republic on Coruscant. But what happens when their employer decides comes along? And is he really who he says he is? This is a SLASH FREE fanfic. Characters may be slightly OOC at times. Ships: Dengar/Latts, Embo/Sugi
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Here's the first chapter! I hope you like!

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars.

* * *

Dengar was about to go insane.

At first, he didn't think inviting Cato to join him and Latts on _Punishing One_ was a big deal. Now, he had officially decided that having two girls on the same ship, especially without Sugi to be their voice of reason, was a very big deal.

"Latts!" He heard Cato scream, "Did you take my hairbrush?!"

"Ew! Of course not!" Latts yelled back.

"Then where is it?!" Cato shouted back.

"How should I know?!" Latts demanded.

Dengar was getting his, like, sixteenth headache for this trip.

"Oh my gosh…" He muttered.

Latts and Cato both had a bad habit of just shouting to people, instead of going to find them. If Dengar had to listen to them argue one more time… he was going to explode.

Suddenly, the hologram on Punishing One's dashboard started buzzing and flashing.

"Ladies, would you be quiet for a minute?!" Dengar yelled, "I got an incoming transmission!"

The girls stopped arguing and Dengar pressed a button to activate the hologram. A miniature, blue version of a young Human male popped up out of the hologram projector.

"Hello? Who are you?" Dengar asked.

"My name is Savio Bellomi," The holo-guy said, "I'm a secret agent in the Underworld of Coruscant. I have a very important bounty for you… and your usual partners, if they're interested."

Latts walked in and said, "Interested in what?"

"A bounty," Dengar replied, "So what is this 'very important bounty' anyway?"

"I don't really want to discuss it over the hologram," he responded, "Let's meet at neutral grounds to discuss it more in depth, then you can decide whether or not you're interested."

"Alright," Dengar stated, "How about the Twirling Twi'lek cantina? That's on Coruscant, right?"

"Indeed it is," Bellomi replied, "Alright, how long will it be till you arrive on Coruscant?"

"A couple hours," Dengar replied. Cato walked in to stand next to Latts.

"Alright, I'll meet you guys there in a couple hours," He responded.

The hologram fizzed away as Dengar turned it off.

"We better tell Sugi and Embo," Latts suggested.

"Good idea," Dengar said, turning his hologram back on.

"Am I invited?" Cato asked.

"Sure, why not?" Dengar said.

"That guy looked handsome," Cato whispered to Latts.

"Yeah, I know." Latts whispered back.

Dengar ignored their whispers and punched in Sugi's number. Soon, a mini Sugi appeared, also a transparent blue.

"Hello, Dengar," She greeted, "What's going on?"

"Nothing much. We just got a bounty offer, though." Dengar replied.

"'We'? As in me and Embo too?" Sugi asked.

"Yeah, some guy named Savio Bellomi. He said he was a secret agent," Dengar said.

"And who's the bounty on?" Sugi asked.

"He said he couldn't tell us over the hologram," Dengar answered, "We're meeting him at the Twirling Twi'lek on Coruscant in a couple hours."

"That is convenient," Sugi said, "Me and Embo just arrived in _Halo_."

"So we'll see you there?" Dengar asked.

"We'll be there." Sugi responded.

Dengar turned the hologram off again and turned to his friends.

"Looks like Sugi and Embo will be joining us on this job," Dengar said.

"If the bounty is compatible with Sugi's 'honor code' that is," Cato pointed out.

"Well, if a legitimate secret agent is giving out the bounty," Latts stated, "It's usually pretty safe to say that it's on a dishonorable person."

"That's only if he's legit." Dengar retorted.

Latts merely shrugged.

"If I were to peg anyone for being a secret agent," Cato spoke up, "It would be him."

Dengar turned back to the ship's controls and made sure that everything was in order.

"Time to get ready for the jump out of hyperspace," He said.

They all sat down and buckled their safety belts. Dengar flipped some switches and pressed a couple buttons. Soon, the blurry lines around them slowed down as they came out of hyperspace. In front of them, they could see Coruscant, and many other ships going to and from the city-covered planet.

Dengar switched to manual pilot and started flying.

"Oh, boy." Latts muttered, "Hold on to your seat, Cato."

* * *

A/N: Next chapter, they meet in the cantina and get the full details of the bounty.

Please review! I love to hear your thoughts, as always! :D


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, especially Jedi Gone Bounty Hunter, Obsidian Tear and Tigerboy 101! You guys reveiw, like, every single chapter! :)

Anyway, here's chapter two, where things start to unfold!

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars

* * *

Once Dengar had found a decent landing pad for Punishing One, the trio got ready to go meet Bellomi and their friends at the Twirling Twi'lek. Cato shape-shifted out of her Human form, and got into her Clawdite armor. Latts put on her grappling boa, and Dengar made sure he had a hidden blaster pistol. He heard that it could get a little rough in the Twirling Twi'lek.

"Keep your eyes open," Dengar said as they walked out of the docking bay.

"Dengar, I think we've all been to Coruscant before," Cato stated, "And we know what to expect."

"Okay, geez, I was just making sure." He replied.

They threesome walked to an elevator lift that would take them from the surface of Coruscant to it's underlevels. Dengar, who had done some research on the Twirling Twi'lek, punched in the level number. The lift zipped down at a very fast speed; however, the bounty hunters weren't upset by the quick ride.

Soon they stepped out of the lift shaft, and the sight before them was familiar. The underworld of Coruscant got no natural light. Storefronts, billboards or other various lighting-up things created the small amount of light. The ground was disgusting, made of metal, but littered with trash and dirt. Small animals and bugs could be seen around, but they weren't as concerning as the people who inhabited the underlevels. These beings were dangerous, even if they were criminals. But most people down there were, and so you had to be dangerous to survive.

"The cantina isn't that far from here," Dengar whispered.

"Lead the way," Latts said, "Because I have no idea where it is."

"I've never been, either," Cato whispered, "But I heard Jango Fett himself was once there.

"Really? That doesn't surprise me." Latts replied.

"Yeah, well, he supposedly got into a fight," Cato said.

"Well he was Jango Fett." Dengar stated.

"True." Cato responded.

After walking for a couple minutes, the bounty hunters rounded a corner and found the cantina. Well, let's just say it wasn't hard to spot. It was probably creating a good percentage of the light in the area, with a giant, flashing, neon sign advertising the cantina's name, as well as it's logo. (I bet you can't guess what the Twirling Twi'lek's logo is). For a building in the underworld, it was pretty decent looking.

"We'd better go find Sugi and Embo," Dengar said.

"And Bellomi." Cato added.

They walked inside and immediately felt claustrophobic. The crowd was huge! Fortunately, Latts spotted Sugi and Embo sitting at a table not far off, which had plenty of room for them. They shoved their way over to the booth table and sat down.

"Ah, hello," Sugi greeted, "I was hoping you'd be able find us in this rather large crowd."

"It wasn't that hard," Latts smirked, "Even when he's sitting, Embo's taller then everyone else."

"Very funny," Embo responded.

"Is Bellomi here yet?" Cato asked.

"Not that we know of." Sugi replied, "Though he is a secret agent."

"Supposedly." Dengar commented, "I want to see proof, before I believe anything."

Suddenly, the man from the hologram came around the corner next to their booth, holding up a badge.

"There you are, sir," Bellomi said, "My badge. And my official license."

"Alright," Dengar replied, "Now I believe you, okay?"

"Okay," He took his stuff back from Dengar, "I'm Savio Bellomi. Nice to meet all of you. May I sit?"

"Of course," Sugi said.

"So what's this bounty all about?" Latts asked.

"First, let me explain myself," Bellomi said, "I work as a secret agent in the underworld of Coruscant for the Republic."

"Go on," Embo said.

"Well, there's a group causing major problems," Bellomi explained, "This group is called S.O.F.I.A."

"The group is named Sofia?" Dengar asked.

"No, they're S.O.F.I.A., it stands for Secret Organization For Intergalactic Anti-Republicans." Bellomi whispered.

"So what exactly are they doing?" Cato asked.

"This group is raiding Republic food shipments, taking them to their headquarters, processing them somehow and then they come out repackaged. But the bad part is that they come out poisoned, and the Republic is getting blamed for it all."

"Has anyone died of the poisoning yet?" Latts asked.

"No, but the hospitals are filling up quickly," Bellomi stated, "Your job would be to find their headquarters and bring down their factory so that they can't poison any more food."

"They sound like a bad bunch of people," Dengar muttered.

"They are," Bellomi said, "And you'll have to be careful of their leader."

Bellomi set down a small hologram on the table. A three- dimensional image of a man popped up. He was a young Chiss, probably about the same age as the bounty hunters, maybe a year or two older. He had handsome features, but an evil look in his red eyes.

"This is Sunil Kilduff," Bellomi stated, "He's the in charge of S.O.F.I.A.'s operation on Coruscant. He's a very dangerous man."

"Do you want us to take him alive?" Latts asked.

"It would be preferable," Bellomi stated, "The Republic would rather see him to prison, but if it's impossible to take him alive…"

"Alright, so take down their factory and try to capture this Kilduff guy," Dengar said, "Sounds good to me."

"What's the pay?" Embo asked.

"A couple thousand… for each of you," Bellomi said.

"I'm in." Latts stated.

All the other bounty hunters agreed and Bellomi continued.

"Here's the info on an incoming Republic food shipment," He said, handing a holopad to Latts, who was seated next to him, "It could be handy."

"Where is their headquarters?" Dengar asked.

Bellomi got up and stated, "I don't know. That's what I hired you guys for."

Then he walked off, and exited the cantina.

"I don't know about him," Sugi said, "He's very mysterious."

"Well, he is a secret agent!" Cato exclaimed.

"We'd better formulate a plan," Embo suggested.

"I have an idea…" Latts smirked, looking down at the holopad in her hands.

* * *

A/N: Next chapter we get to find out: what is Latts' brilliant plan? Please reveiw! Thanks!

(P.S. Made the cover in Photoshop! Like it?)


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hey guys! Here's the next chapter, where we get to find out what's Latts' plan! Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars.

* * *

The bounty hunters parked their speeder behind the watchtower. They were at the landing platform of the incoming Republic frigate, which was carrying food from places like Naboo, to the city-covered Coruscant.

"Alright," Latts stated, "Bellomi's info says the shipment will be coming in a couple minutes. My thoughts are that S.O.F.I.A. might come to highjack the shipment,"

"And then we can follow them to their base!" Dengar finished.

"Right." Latts said.

"We should probably get up into this tower," Cato suggested. "It'll give us a better vantage point."

"I'll stay in the speeder," Embo said, "That way when they leave, I can fly up, you guys can jump into the speeder and we can follow them."

"It's more important that we follow them," Sugi said, "So when they leave, just follow them, Embo, and report your location. Then we'll come using another speeder."

"Okay," Embo replied.

The other hunters left Embo, and started climbing the tower, via their grappling hooks. Once they got up, a guard came around the corner.

"Who are you?" He asked, "I need to see identification—"

Latts stunned him, and they went around to the front of the tower.

"So far, no activity," Embo said over the comm, "What's the story up there? Over."

"Only one guard, but we got him. Over," Sugi replied.

"Here comes another speeder," Dengar whispered.

Cato used her electro-binoculars to zoom in on the arriving speeder.

"Hmm… They don't look like Republic troops." She said, passing the electro-binoculars to Latts, "See?"

"Oh yeah…" Latts said. She watched as the thuggish men parked their speeder behind another watchtower that was opposite their position. "Embo? Do you copy?"

"I copy." He replied over the comm.

"They just parked behind the other watchtower. Over." She said.

"I copy. I have a visual. Over." Embo said.

"You know, that's really starting to get annoying." Dengar muttered. "Over! Over!"

"Shut up, over!" Latts replied.

"Hey, why don't you two actually shut up? Here comes the frigate," Cato said.

"Embo, we have the frigate. Do you copy? Over." Sugi said.

"I copy, over." Embo responded.

Soon, clone troopers filed out of the landed Republic frigate. Then, a few dozen workers started to unload the food shipment. Another group of troops walked out of the opposite watchtower. They went over to the ship and stood at attention.

"They're doing a pretty good job so far," Dengar murmured.

"I don't know how those thugs plan on taking that entire brigade of troops," Cato whispered. "There were only about ten guys in that speeder…"

Suddenly, from the rooftop of a nearby skyscraper, someone launched a rocket-like projectile. It flew with a whizzing sound down to the platform and took out half of the clone troopers. Most of the workers scurried back inside the frigate, while the clones started shooting at whoever launched the rocket.

"Looks like one of the guys from the speeder," Cato observed with her electro-binoculars, "He's wearing a similar logo on his shirt."

The band of thugs rushed suddenly from their hiding spot to the ship. They shot down the rest of the clones, and then went into the frigate.

"Hang on," Sugi said, snatching the electro-binoculars from Cato, "Looks like one of the thugs is making a call…"

As she said this, a couple large speeders landed on the platform. The thugs forced the workers to load the cargo onto their speeders. Then, one speeder drove off and collected the rocket-launcher man.

"Embo, you ready?" Sugi asked, "Because there they go!"

"I'm going, I'm going!" Embo replied.

The other hunters watched as the speeders drove off, followed closely by Embo.

A half-hour later, Embo reported back.

"Their warehouse-factory-thing is in the industrial district," He stated, "I'm sending the coordinates to you guys now. You might want to come to this nice, convenient high-rise across the way."

"Alright, we'll be right over," Dengar replied.

As they hopped into their other speeder and drove off to meet with Embo, the bounty hunters didn't realize they were being watched. And followed.

* * *

A/N: Oh ho ho! Who's following them? Find out in the next chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Hey, sorry for the major wait! Here's the next chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars

* * *

Once the four other bounty hunters met up with Embo on the high-rise across from the factory, they needed to formulate a plan.

"Wow, that's a big factory," Cato said in awe.

"Cato, it's only two stories high!" Latts replied.

"Well, I never said it was tall…" Cato started to retort.

"So we need to blow that factory off the face of Coruscant while some how capturing this Kilduff guy alive," Dengar declared, "This isn't going to be easy."

"It's never easy," Sugi said.

"I had this bounty once that took five minutes—" Cato started.

"Okay, well, you know what I meant!" Sugi exclaimed.

"Hmm…" Embo muttered, "Look, there are four guards posted right outside the door. Who knows how many snipers or camouflaged guards they could have around."

"We could…" Dengar started, "Hmm… no that won't work."

"What?" Latts asked.

"Distracting the guards," Dengar replied.

"With what…oh no!" Latts murmured.

"What? How would we distract them?" Sugi asked in confusion.

"Using us," Latts groaned, pointing at all the girls.

"I'm resigning," Sugi declared, "Because I'm NOT going down there! Firstly, I could get sniped. Secondly—"

"Obviously you just need a different plan!"

The bounty hunters all jumped as Bellomi suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Don't do that!" Cato exclaimed.

"Do what?" Bellomi asked, "Make a suggestion?"

"No, suddenly appear behind me and start screaming in my ear!" Cato exclaimed.

"Oh, sorry, but the wind's really bad up here!" Bellomi declared.

"How'd you find us?" Dengar asked.

"I followed you! I decided that I might be more helpful here than in my office," He replied calmly.

"Secret agents have offices?" Cato asked.

"That's not the point!" Embo exclaimed.

"Do you have any bright ideas, Bellomi," Sugi retorted, "Oh wait, let me guess: you have the entire schematics of the building."

"Actually," Bellomi said, holding up a strange looking object, "Yes, I do now."

"Whoa, is that a secret agent building scanner?!" Cato said.

"Kind of," Bellomi smiled. He pressed a button on the device, and then showed them a screen, "See? That's what the building looks like. It appears that there is a system of ventilation tunnels between the first and second floors."

"You're saying we should go in through those air duct tunnels?" Latts said.

"It wouldn't be a bad idea," Bellomi replied, "Now, see that grate on the schematics? It's right… over there."

Bellomi showed them the grate through the electro-binoculars. The grate, Bellomi had told them, accessed the tunnels. But it was also right above the front door, and under a second-floor window.

"What's in the room with that window?" Dengar asked.

"Looks like a normal room," Bellomi shrugged. "I can't tell exactly what they use it for."

"If we shoot a grapple line across, and aim to put it right under the grate, we'll be able to slide down the line from here," Sugi said.

"But the guards will be shooting at us!" Latts exclaimed.

"I'll cover you guys," Cato said, taking out her trusty sniper rifle, "Once you're all in the grate and I've taken out the guards, I'll just slide down, too."

"Alright," Dengar stated, "Here goes nothing."

As Dengar aimed hid grappling hook and line, Cato stood and aimed at the first guard. Dengar fired the hook, it lodged into the wall under the window and he then secured it to the high-rise. Bellomi volunteered to go first. He got out his blaster and put it over the rope. That way, the blaster would get a rope burn from sliding down instead of Bellomi's hands. Cato started sniping the guards. Dengar, Latts and then Sugi slid down. Embo followed them.

"Hurry up!" Dengar shouted to Bellomi, who was working on cutting the grate open with a fusion cutter. Everyone else was left hanging there.

"I'm going, I'm going!" Bellomi retorted.

Cato was still sniping another troop of guards that had just come out of the factory.

"Got it!" Bellomi cried, letting the grate fall to the ground below. He and the bounty hunters climbed inside. Cato got onto the line and started to slide across the gap. But suddenly, the line was cut from the window above the grate. Cato dipped suddenly and Latts and Sugi gasped out loud. The line was caught and Cato was saved. For now.

"Good morning," They heard a male voice say from the window. However the bounty hunters in the grate could not see who it was. They would have to lean out of the grate to see, and risk the person spotting them. Right now, it looked like they were only aware of Cato.

"Morning," Cato said cheerfully, suspended above a drop that could mean curtains.

"Why don't you climb inside?" The man said. Cato realized suddenly that he was Chiss, "I can imagine there's an awful wind chill out there."

"No, I'm good," Cato replied innocently, "Just going for a morning zip-line ride."

"I'm sure," Kilduff responded, "But my arms are growing tired, and I cannot hold this line forever."

He let a small length of the line pull out of his grasp. Cato felt a bit uneasy.

"Perhaps you should reconsider," Kilduff called out to her.

"Perhaps I should," Cato replied, starting to climb the line to the window.

"What are we going to do?" Dengar whispered from in the grate.

"There's nothing we can do right now," Bellomi stated, "We're going to have to rescue her later."

"What, when the factory's blowing?" Latts asked indignantly.

"No, we'll set the charges, rescue Cato, get out of here and THEN set them off," Bellomi retorted.

"Sounds risky, Sugi said.

"It's never easy," Bellomi replied.

* * *

A/N: Hope you liked it! The next chapter should be a bit longer, but no promises!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry that I haven't updated in, like, FOREVER! And sorry this chapter's kind of short. But hey, what are you gonna do?

Disclaimer: I obviously do not own Star Wars.

* * *

Bellomi began to direct the hunters through the extensive system of air ducts to the main loading bay. Once they arrived at the duct's grate, he turned and indicated that they should remain quiet.

"This is the main loading bay," He whispered, "The stolen food is transferred from their transports to the factory."

"Where it's poisoned, right?" Latts whispered in reply.

"Yes," Bellomi answered, "We should probably place the bombs in the factory, to make sure all the equipment is destroyed."

"Hopefully we can stop this shipment before it goes out," Dengar murmured.

Bellomi began to take the grate's bolts out, very quietly.

"Careful," Sugi whispered tensely.

"You're not helping," Bellomi muttered back, "There!"

Bellomi stealthily eased the grate into the duct and set it down.

"It's quite a ways down," Latts commented.

"We'll have to rappel," Dengar said.

"That'll be easy, what with all those thugs shooting at us," Sugi replied sarcastically.

"I can hop down and cover you," Embo stated, "The drop is nothing for me."

"Alright," Bellomi said, "We'll toss some grenades down before you go. It'll give you some smoke cover."

"And take out some thugs," Latts shrugged.

"Hang on," Dengar said, "Where exactly is the door to the factory?"

"Hm, that might be helpful to know," Latts muttered.

"See that big door?" Bellomi said, pointing out the open grate.

"Yeah, the one all the way across the room, protected by a ton of men?" Dengar groaned.

"That would be the one," Bellomi smiled. "Let's get going."

The hunters tossed down a couple grenades. A troop of thug guards walking by heard them clank on the floor, and a couple turned to see what had made the noise.

"Grenade!" One shouted in warning.

The men scattered as the grenades went off. Some of the men that were unloading the speeders, or guarding the door to the main factory started to yell, get out blasters or run for the exit.

"Up there!" One man shouted pointing to the grate.

"Go!" Dengar shouted to Embo.

The Kyuzo jumped down and began fighting the thugs. More just kept coming, though, and Bellomi began to descend first. A couple of the thugs noticed people rappelling from the grate and began to fire at them. Bellomi and Latts, who had followed behind him, started swinging from side-to-side in an attempt to avoid the blasts.

Embo flung a dagger at one thug, then quickly twirled and blasted at another. Reinforcements pooled out of the factory doors, and some even descended from secret panels in the ceiling. Bellomi whipped out his blaster, and let go of his line. He zipped down on his grapple line, firing at the enemy.

Suddenly, one thug flung a dagger at Latts' line. The dagger hit its target and Latts' line snapped in two. She screamed as she plummeted to the ground. Dengar, who had been preparing to go down next, shot his grapple line down to Latts. It wrapped around her wrist and she grabbed it to break her fall. She hung in the air for a moment, then, realizing she was still alive, Latts dropped gracefully down from Dengar's line.

"You're welcome!" He shouted down sarcastically.

Latts just shook her head and began to assist Embo and Bellomi. Dengar and Sugi rappelled down without much trouble, du to the fact that they had three people covering them instead of just one.

"What took you so long?" Latts joked.

"I needed to fix my grapple line," Dengar retorted, "Someone used up my first one."

"Save it, you two," Sugi shouted over to them.

The hunters fought their way over to the door. Eventually, all the thugs were either deceased or they had fled. The hunters, who were pretty exhausted, stood around for a brief moment, just breathing heavily.

"Shall we?" Bellomi asked, gesturing to the large set of factory doors.

* * *

Next chapter: The Factory! Bum-bum-BUMMMMM! AND, what happened to Cato? Bum-bum-BUMMMMM! And- yeah I can't think of any other teasers. Bum-bum-BUMMMM! :)


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hey guys, hope you're ready for the next chapter... 'cause the next chapter's ready for you! That was wicked cheesy, sorry...

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars

* * *

The bounty hunters and their… friend walked into the factory and stopped short.

The main factory was gigantic, filled from wall to wall with machinery and conveyer belts. The hijacked food bundles went into a process so complex and zigzag-y that the bounty hunters could not follow it. However, it was easy to locate where the food got poisoned, because in about the middle of the chaotic room, there was a huge (and I mean HUGE) vat with a toxic warning symbol on it.

"We have to try and shut this down!" Latts exclaimed.

"Latts, we're just going to blow it up," Dengar said.

"But by the time we set the bombs and go, another shipment could get out!" Latts stated.

"I agree with Latts," Sugi said, and then began shouting, "SHUT THEM DOWN!" to the innocent-looking workers of the factory.

A couple workers looked at each other and went to turn off the machinery.

"No, no, stop!" The other workers shouted desperately to them, "Stop, remember what the master said! Do not touch! Do not touch the button!"

The bounty hunters and Bellomi saw that across the room, there was a balcony protected by a plasma-shield. Currently, there was no one inside.

"Your master is not here!" Dengar said, pointing to the balcony, "It'll be fine!"

And Dengar went over to the main panel and hit a red button that said STOP.

"NO!" The workers shouted at him.

"You fool! Foolish, foolish man!" An elderly worker spat at him.

"Oh no!" A young boy groaned.

The doors of the factory sealed as the machines all began to slowly shut down. An alarm began to blare and before the main entrance sealed, thugs began to rush in by the dozens.

"Dengar…" Everyone moaned.

* * *

Cato struggled against the tight bonds. They were very uncomfortable, but she doubted Kilduff cared.

"No need to struggle, my dear friend," He said in an accented voice, "Those bonds have held many much stronger than you."

Cato was being held in Kilduff's main office, which looked more like a throne room than an office in a factory. Kilduff sat in a plush throne-like chair at the head of a holographic table. Cato was chained around her midriff to a wooden chair that was definitely not as expensive as Kilduff's seating. She also wore handcuffs and ankle cuffs.

"Well, I'm not as weak as I first appear," Cato said, trying to sound serious.

Kilduff laughed and then stated, "I'm sure. Which is why I think you won't tell me why you're here. Although… I have my ways of getting the information I require."

This time, Cato laughed, "Ha! I bet you thought that was going to scare me!"

"That was the intent," Kilduff said, smiling. He got up and walked over to Cato, saying, "But I would rather not have to scare you. It would be better if you could just answer my questions. Yes, I think that would be better for both of us."

Cato gulped silently, but said, "I won't tell you anything… creep!"

Kilduff's friendly expression faded into anger. Quickly, his hand swished down and slammed a button on the holo-table.

A panel in the floor under Cato's chair opened and Cato screamed as she suddenly fell. Kilduff pressed another button, and the extra lengths of Cato's chains were magnetized to a special section in the ceiling. Cato's fall was unexpectedly broken and she was jerked into a suspended yet seated position.

"I warned you!" Kilduff said merrily from the hole in the floor. (Well, now it was the ceiling to Cato). "I say… aren't those your friends down there?"

Cato looked down to see that she was now suspended over the main factory room. Indeed, her friends were now fighting dozens and dozens of Kilduff's men, while innocent workers scrambled and screamed as they tried to get out of the way.

"And would you look at that!" Kilduff exclaimed, "Why, you're right over the poison vat! However did _that_ happen?"

"I just couldn't say…" Cato moaned.

* * *

A/N: Whoa, that was intense, right?! Right?... Anyways, next chapter is the fight scene with bounty hunters 'n pal that was going on during Cato's scene!

Please review, and thanks to the people who regularly review! :D


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